Construction projects of multi-floor and tall buildings are becoming more and more important in terms of number of floors, number of employees involved in their construction, the financing requirements and the impact such projects have on the urban life of the project neighborhood.
Many construction projects are completed in regions where weather conditions have a direct impact on workers productivity and security. The contractors also need to respect codes and standards for environment, safety and ergonomics that apply with increasing rigor. The traditional construction method poses real challenges when it comes to vertical transportation of the materials and workers. Working high on open structures, using tower cranes and boom lifts handling materials up in the air represent a major source of incidents, injuries and even death of employees on a regular basis. Tower cranes also represent significant cost charges for taller buildings. Furthermore, the control of an open work environment is complex and difficult to maintain.
A fair amount of construction projects for multi-floor buildings are held by a lack of sufficient financing or a lower leasing ratio than expected. Those constraints are even more important and regular during difficult economical times where the initial leasing ratio target often increases in order to reduce the risk associated with long term financing. Other projects highly desirable on a long term time scale are impossible to realize with the conventional method because of the impact they would have in high density urban area or other specific area very sensible to the impacts of such projects. The current construction methods are not flexible and very sensitive to changes and unpredictable situations that may arise during the project, sometimes affecting very badly the project profitability. The owners and contractors have no flexibility on schedule and project scale when it comes to adapting to a sudden specific situation. So far, construction projects methods only allowed occupancy after substantial completion of the construction, which delays significantly the revenues and affects the project financial balance. The investments are so important for taller buildings that only a very small group of selected contractors and owners can consider such projects. Even with the best planning, large construction projects still represent important risks for those responsible for their completion.